Mon. June 25th
Another Successful B+ 5k!!!
The weather was perfect, we had a lot of B+ Heroes and Sibling Heroes present, there was a ton of free food (200 pizzas, 750 hot dogs, 200 Chick Fil-A sandwiches, hundreds of soft pretzels, cases of Frito-Lay snacks, and cases of water), nobody got hurt, and I think everyone had a really good time. We raised a lot of awareness about these terrible diseases and we exceeded our goal and raised $104,000!
The highlight for me, as always, is when we call our B+ Heroes/Sibling Heroes up to receive their gift and recognition. These boys and girls are my HEROES! They didn’t do anything wrong to deserve these terrible cancers, but they don’t complain. They fight valiantly and with grace and maturity. They are so inspirational. Obviously, like most parents, I think pretty highly of my kids. 🙂 But, when I saw how Andrew battled in the hospital and how he dealt with it and how Ali dealt with cancer hitting our family, I immediately felt even more blessed to be the father of these two amazing kids. Look no farther than a children’s hospital if you want to see true heroes.
An event like tonight’s could not happen if it weren’t for the collective efforts of so many. To all of our teams, thank you from the bottom of my heart. To all of our volunteers, sponsors, Salesianum, thank you. I don’t want to mention people specifically, because I know I’ll neglect to mention someone. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I spent a good part of the weekend with B+ Heroes. On Saturday, I was honored to join B+ Hero, Pearce Quesenberry, for a party at her house. I hope I don’t embarrass her by writing this, but Pearce got her report card from Padua on Saturday and she got ALL A’s!!! Congratulations, Pearce. A great kid — AND really smart and hard-working.
Yesterday, I had the privilege of joining B+ Hero, Danny Feltwell, for a Phillies game. Danny threw out the first pitch as part of IBEW Local 98’s sponsorship of the Phillies game. Dad Dan had a little Phillies shirt made for Danny with “Be Positive” written across the back above the numbers and “Danny” below the numbers. It looked so cool! As horrible as childhood cancer is, we’ve met some of the nicest people along this journey.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On Wednesday, the B+ Racing Team heads north for Saturday’s race at the famed Watkins Glen track in NY. As is the schedule prior to most races, B+ drivers, Al Carter & Hugh Plumb, will visit a local children’s hospital to put some smiles on the faces of kids battling cancer. Their visit was so well-received last year that the children’s hospital in Rochester has asked for our guys to come back. I wish I could join them for the hospital visit, but I will be with them in spirit. Al & Hugh, good luck on Saturday!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Live Like Andrew – be comfortable in your skin.
B+
Proud to be,
Ali & Andrew’s Dad